No. 1095 - From Abu Rashid al-Hubraani who said: Abu Umama al-Bahili took me by the hand and said: the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - took me by my hand and said to me:

‘O Abu Umama! Indeed from the believers are those who soften (with love) their hearts towards me.’ [Collected by Ahmad]

Shaykh Albaani said:

And the meaning of ‘soften their hearts towards me’ is that they are gentle and incline towards me with love and affection and Allaah knows best. And this cannot be achieved except with Ikhlaas (sincerity) and following the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - more than any other human being, because Allaah Ta’ala singled that out as an evidence to prove that a person really loves Allaah –Azza wa Jal.

Allaah, the Exalted, said:

"Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you (really) love Allaah then follow me, Allaah will love you and forgive you of your sins." [Aal’Imraan:31]

Is it not about time that those who claim to love the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - in their speech and their an-Nasheed (songs), that they return to adhere to the true love which will lead to the love of Allaah Ta’ala, so that they will not be from those whom, the poet said:

You disobey your Lord and present your love *** I swear that this action is
innovative

If your love was truthful you would have obeyed Him *** Indeed the one who
loves is obedient to the one whom he loves

"كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَلَوْ آمَنَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُم مِّنْهُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ"
"Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors."